Possible dumb question

[johnmhemp]

I was at Best Buy yesterday and looked at their Blu-Ray demo. I believe that they had a 40 inch Sony Bravia display and a BDP-S300. They were showing a sampler disc with Pirates 2 and a few others. The picture quality looked what I call "video-like". As if someone had been on the set of Pirates and filmed the movie on a digital video tape. I have had the BDP-S300 playing on a 40 in Samsung TV for 6 months and I have never gotten a picture like that.

That is also not the PQ I see at Costco from the Spiderman 3 display on their demo.

My question is am I missing something? Is this the picture quality I should be getting? The benefit that I get from Blu-Ray is a crisper picture with more vibrant colors.....not what I saw at Best Buy.

[xtop]

who knows how they set the tv and blu-ray player up at best buy. you can't trust their settings. thats why when buying a tv from a place like that. you do all the tweaking

[DeeChizzle]

It has nothing to do with your copy of Pirates, your blu-ray player, or your LCD. You were watching it on one of these LCD's.

Sony KDL-52XBR5
Sony KDL-46XBR5
Sony KDL-40XBR5
Sony KDL-52XBR4
Sony KDL-46XBR4
Sony KDL-40XBR4

[DealsR4theDevil]

Originally Posted by johnmhemp

I was at Best Buy yesterday and looked at their Blu-Ray demo. I believe that they had a 40 inch Sony Bravia display and a BDP-S300. They were showing a sampler disc with Pirates 2 and a few others. The picture quality looked what I call "video-like". As if someone had been on the set of Pirates and filmed the movie on a digital video tape. I have had the BDP-S300 playing on a 40 in Samsung TV for 6 months and I have never gotten a picture like that.

That is also not the PQ I see at Costco from the Spiderman 3 display on their demo.

My question is am I missing something? Is this the picture quality I should be getting? The benefit that I get from Blu-Ray is a crisper picture with more vibrant colors.....not what I saw at Best Buy.

I also felt that way when I saw the Best Buy display with a Sharp Aquas. The video looked more like it was done with a home camcorder. Now it still had good detail and color, but it looked more "live" then like a movie.

I use a 42" Pioneer Elite Purevision PRO940HD with 60GB PS3. My friend just got the new 60" Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO150FD model (the one that just won the JD Power and Associates award for the best HDTV in that size range for 2007) and he uses a Pioneer Elite Blu-ray player. And my other friend has a 720p 32" Philips LCD with a 40 GB PS3.

On all three of those set ups the Blu-ray picture looked good (obviously better on the Pioneer Elites than the Philips) but it did not look as "live" and "home made" as the Best Buy display.

This leads me to believe that the demo disc is a gimmick to get peoples attention....................Well either that or the Sony XBR and Sharp Aquas are better than the Pioneer Elite TVs (which, considering the price difference, is impossible)

[Existentialist]

I noticed the same thing at best buy. I think it is just the way they show case the best clips from the movie that make it look so damn good. When I watch coming to blu-ray ads on my tv it seems to look better than when I watch the same movies. I think when you are watching a movie you are too asorbed in the movie as a whole to be totally blown away by it's pristine picture for two-hours straight.

[SamInNorthCakalakey]

Maybe you should log what the bitrates are for those trailers and see if they're pumping it up for those 3 minutes or so.

[catterwall]

possible that they're taking full advantage of the 120Hz and 24p settings available betweeen the TV and Blu-Ray player. and who knows how those dorks at best buy hooked it up...

[MacDaddyOJack]

You were probably watching it on a tv that has a 120hz refresh rate. It makes the panning and camera movement much smoother giving you the feeling that you are behind the camera. People have different reactions to it, some like it and some dont. You can't get your setup to look that way unless you have a 120hz tv and a player capable of 24fps output.

[Mr. Joshua]

Originally Posted by catterwall

possible that they're taking full advantage of the 120Hz and 24p settings available betweeen the TV and Blu-Ray player. and who knows how those dorks at best buy hooked it up...

I agree... If you set the 120Hz on high and have the display and output both set to 1080p/24fps it does look weird, very 3D looking... It freaked me out first time I saw 120Hz... I set my Samsung LCD and PS3 to 1080p/24fps and leave the 120Hz off... I think the 120Hz is better used for live sports action... I notice that when watching movies with the 120Hz on during fast action scenes there is a blurring effect of the person or object moving...

[Mr. Joshua]

Originally Posted by MacDaddyOJack

You were probably watching it on a tv that has a 120hz refresh rate. It makes the panning and camera movement much smoother giving you the feeling that you are behind the camera. People have different reactions to it, some like it and some dont. You can't get your setup to look that way unless you have a 120hz tv and a player capable of 24fps output.

Well said.... I was going for the same thing...

[CptGreedle]

it could be they are using component cables and not HDMI? Or a 720 TV... or 120hz tv... or more likely they just are clueless about hooking up an HD demo display...

[johnmhemp]

Originally Posted by DealsR4theDevil

This leads me to believe that the demo disc is a gimmick to get peoples attention

That is what I am leaning to.

Like the comparision of non hd and hd. It looks like the lense has vaseline on it in the non hd example. The upconversion on a newer film from an hd source looks pretty good. In fact I have a superbit sd of Spiderman 1 and I am hard pressed to see a difference between it and the Blu-ray. However I rented the sd of HP and the Order of the Phoenix and the Blu-Ray is a drastic improvement.

[Living Near Shamu]

Originally Posted by johnmhemp

I was at Best Buy yesterday ....

I too have seen this and wondered about it. I thought it was my tv. If you go to the SonyStyle store, their TVs are always showing the same "live" effect, even on Casino Royale. Its like you're watching it live.

[MFGR63]

I saw it! about a month ago at fry's. I even called my dad to go see it...
this was a Samsung plasma; the definition was outstanding...
I have wondered about it too. They were showing POTC and it was simply spectacular.

I will try your suggestions tonight... see what happens...

please post if any of you is succesful trying it out...

[DealsR4theDevil]

Originally Posted by DealsR4theDevil

I also felt that way when I saw the Best Buy display with a Sharp Aquas. The video looked more like it was done with a home camcorder. Now it still had good detail and color, but it looked more "live" then like a movie.

I use a 42" Pioneer Elite Purevision PRO940HD with 60GB PS3. My friend just got the new 60" Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO150FD model (the one that just won the JD Power and Associates award for the best HDTV in that size range for 2007) and he uses a Pioneer Elite Blu-ray player. And my other friend has a 720p 32" Philips LCD with a 40 GB PS3.

On all three of those set ups the Blu-ray picture looked good (obviously better on the Pioneer Elites than the Philips) but it did not look as "live" and "home made" as the Best Buy display.

This leads me to believe that the demo disc is a gimmick to get peoples attention....................Well either that or the Sony XBR and Sharp Aquas are better than the Pioneer Elite TVs (which, considering the price difference, is impossible)

I just quoted myself from this thread a little earlier.

Now I have a question. This 120hz thing, that makes it look crazy 3D as if you were behind the camera, is it what Blu-rays are supposed to look like? Is this what HDTVs are all going to be capable of later down the road?

Now I realize my Pioneer Elite Purevision model is only 720p/1080i and I will need to upgrade when i get the money together. But my friend's 60" Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO150FD just won the JD Power and Associates award for best HDTV in that size range for 2007, why would they give this TV the award when it cant do the 120hz thing. And if it cant do the 120hz thing then why does it retail for $7,000 when the Sony XBR is closer to $4,000.

These points make me believe that the 120hz thing is a gimmick and not the Blu-ray standard.

Can someone on here who knows what they are talking about fully explain the concept of 120hz and tell me why the $7,000 60" Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO150FD would omit that feature while the $4,000 Sony XBR has it?

Like I said above, this TV won the JD Power and Associates award for best HDTV in its size range for 2007 (the size range was something like 42"-60,"not necessarily those sizes but it included more than just the 60" HDTVs), if 120hz was what Blu-ray is meant to do then the award should have gone to a Sony XBR and Pioneer Elite should lower its prices.

[SuperFist]

Alright, after noting some of the posts on this forum, I had to join and chime my two cents in!

I've owned a Pioneer Elite PureVision PRO-940HD for 8 months now, purchased from my cousin who's a manager at BestBuy. He personally recommended this set to me after literally unplugging it and putting it up against the leading LCDs that were out at the time. Every one of them paled in comparison to the Pioneer Elite! Afterall, our eyes don't lie!

I personally have yet to see any LCD or Plasma that has a crisper and overall richer, more superb picture than the Pioneer Elite models. Every one of my friends who comes over who currently own 1080p LCD sets always remark at how stunning the picture quality is on my Elite.

I also have a 60GB PS3 running on my Pioneer Elite via HDMI and it is simply breathtaking! I've seen the demos of that exact model Sharp Aquos that you are speaking of and I personally feel that blu-rays playing on my Elite look much better! I've found that the best setting for me on blu-rays playing from the PS3 on these Elites is DYNAMIC. You can also personally tweak the other settings to match it if you feel it's oversaturated but I feel that the DYNAMIC setting gives a sharpness, richness and clarity that eludes me whenever I try to adjust the settings myself. However, make sure you return the settings back to STANDARD or your own personal user settings wherein the brightness and sharpness are reduced when not viewing blu-ray movies. I hope this helps you somewhat.

[Living Near Shamu]

Where is this setting at, in the PS3, that you speak of?

[HOF-city]

On my sony A3000 i can tweak the motion enhancer option. The more i turn it up the more it looks like you were actually there watching the actors act. It totally changes the way the movie looks. A lot of people like it, A lot hate it.

[SuperFist]

Originally Posted by Living Near Shamu

Where is this setting at, in the PS3, that you speak of?

The Dynamic setting is actually on the Pioneer Elite.

[d_rob1031]

I work at BB.. the demo disc's that are put together are very very pumped up. When I started working there I had noticed how different it looked... I just popped in a normal blu like anyone would buy at any store and it looked normal. It's crazy how different it looks. Next time you're there get the salesperson to put in a normal blu... totally changes things.